Hesperornis

Like a lot of Paleomedia, Dinosaurs of Alaska uses speculative material, I’m going to make sure it’s all grounded in reality and is something that animals today actually do. Nonetheless I need Y’all to review it. Comment if you notice anything that doesn’t seem right.

Generic species

These are plants, animals, and other stuff that are used as backdrops and aren’t known to have lived in late Cretaceous Alaska. All these species did exist at this time though.

• Mushrooms

• Reeds

• Plants with berries

• Sea weed (I’m not actually sure if anything like Kelp existed 70 million years ago, if it didn’t please tell me)

• Sea urchins

• Crabs

• Clams

• Jellyfish

• Sea stars

• Barnacles

• Shrimp

• Flies

• Beetles

• Wasps/bees

• Spiders

• Butterflies

• Crawfish

• Freshwater ray finned fish

• Saltwater ray finned fish

Mesozoic Glaciers

I want to add glaciers into the story, because it gives a sense of scale. I’m not sure if it was actually cold enough for glaciers to form, even in the arctic.

Beach combing Saurornitholestes

Basically, some Saurornitholestes will spend some time hunting on the beach to feed one whatever washes up, crabs, jellyfish, ammonites, etc.

Color changing Enchoteuthis

Modern Octopus change color (I’m not sure if all species do), and despite looking like a squid, Enchotethis is an Octopus.

Bird eating Enchoteuthis

Here’s something a lot more speculative, I want to show an Enchoteuthis grabbing a small Hesperornis to eat, but I don’t know if it’s a fully reasonable idea.

Paleoarctic Subnivean

If you don’t know what that is, a Subnivean climate is the environment between the ground and the top of the snow in the winter, usually a bunch on interconnecting tunnels . Insects, mammals, and even birds inhabit them. I had the idea that the mammals in the book could live in one too.

Fireweed fields

Afaik, Fireweed has not been preserved in the fossil record. But I really want to add fireweed fields because it serves as a nice Alaskan backdrop. The family that fireweed is apart of was present in the Cretaceous.

Hesperornis roosting on rocks like seals

The reason I want the birds to rest like seals and not today’s sea birds is because Hesperornis can’t fly and is much bigger, and stuff like penguins are very different from Hesperornis.

Troodon pack hunting

In the story, the Troodons form temporary hunting gangs to bring down larger, or faster prey. This is mainly based on crows and how they will form gangs.

Swimming Albertosaurus

We have evidence of Tyrannosaurus swimming, why not Albertosaurus?

Freshwater Hybodus

Some sharks today will swim into freshwater, so it’s possible Hybodus did too.

Herbivores in herds

I’m pretty sure there’s evidence for stuff like Edmontosaurus traveling in herds, but not so much for the ceratopsians like Pachyrhinosaurus and the Leptoceratopsid.

Head butting Alaskacephales

Out of all the speculations, this one probably has the best evidence. There’s direct fossil evidence that Pachycephalosaurus used its dome to headbut, and what’s Pachycephalosaurus’s closest relative? Alaskacephale.

Share your thoughts below.

Inspired by @Bajadasaurus234

• Humans evolved from it

• It was on Prehistoric Planet

• It’s far more unique than any sea birds alive today

• It was one of the largest birds during the Cretaceous period and grew to be over 6 feet long

• It has teeth

• There are nine species of it (not including those in the subgenus Homo)

I’ve already shared my list of favorite dinosaurs, but they’re all non avian dinosaurs, so here’s my list of favorite avian dinosaurs

5. Titanis

Terror birds are weird, and I love them like that

4. Styginetta

I first learned about these things from Prehistoric planet. They look so goofy and th fact that they survived K-PG makes them even cooler

3. Pelagornis

These things are also very goofy, the fact that their whole order went extinct makes me sad

2. Confuciusornis

I love how this species is kind of a mix between prehistoric birds, and modern birds, plus it lived with psittacosaurus

1. Hesperornis

I don’t know why this is the greatest bird but it is

Since 1 billion B.C., scientists have been saying that humans evolved from great apes, but now recent evidence has suggested that humans didn’t evolve from apes at all, and that they aren’t mammals at all, but dinosaurs. Specifically the sea bird hesperornis

Why you may ask well I’ll give you 3 reasons

1. Hesperornis is arguably the most aquatic bird (and dinosaur), meaning that it swam into air pockets, and developed tools to keep them alive

2. Once the ash cleared the hesperornises moved back to the surface and came on land, with tools they had no reason to go back to the water

3. Now that they were on land, they began to lose their bird traits and resemble great apes, their feathers mimicked hair and they regained arms.

4. (I lied about only 3) this fossilized specimen clearly shows the transition from sea to land, proving my point

Scientists have even discovered that Homo can still classify as a species of hesperornis. Since homo is more taxonomicly problematic, scientists are choosing to declare Homo as a senior synonym of hesperornis, making the new name for humans Hesperornis sapiens

Edit: I flipped them over in Google Drawing, still crappy but at least now it the right way up